imm 








ERT L SELLE 




Book .§4 

('iop\Tighl N" 



COPYRIC.HT DEPOSIT. 



WINNING MEN 
TO CHRIST 



BY REV. ROBERT L. SELLE. D. D. 

Author of *'The Holy Nation^ **6ld Time Religionr 

*'Origin, Purpose, Power , Result and Cure 

e/ Sin/' Et£, 



X 



PENTECOSTAIi PUBLISHING COMPANY. 
I^ouisTllle, Ky. 



^"t^ 



COPYRIGHT. 1914. 
BY ROBERT L. SELLE. 



M -6 1914 



0CI.A376195 



TART -EOF CONTENTS. 




Chapter I. 




Man is Man 


9 


Chapter 11. 




Sympathy for Men . 


21 


Chapter III . 




Respect for Men 


35 


Chapter IV. 




Deportment Among Men. . . . 


51 


Chapter V. 




Approaching Men 


67 


Chapter VL 




The Key to a Man's Heart . . 


81 


Chapter VII 




Results of Winning Men to 




Christ . . 


97 




(3) 



PREFACE. 

The ripest harvest in all the Master's 
vineyards today is die opportunity of 
winning men to Jesus Christ. 

Winning men to Jesus Christ is the 
greatest and most important work in 
which anyone can be engaged, and yet 
it is not, for the most part, a difficult task 
to perform when it is rightly understood 
and pursued. 

The nature of man is deeply sensitive 
to the touch of sympathetic righteous- 
ness and highly appreciative of the pure 
and noble and good in others. His 
manner, like a loosely worn garment, 

(4) 



PREFACE. 



may convey but little or no idea of the 
impulses of the soul, which may be 
reaching out in longings which cannot 
be expressed in words for a different, a 
better, a Christian life. 

A song, a sermon, a prayer, a tear, 
a word, a look, a handshake is all that 
is needed many a time to win a man to 
Jesus Christ. 

In hunting for opportunities to do 
good in the world by helping somebody 
into the Christian Kfe, men are often 
passed by or overlooked — men whose 
hearts are hungry for God — men who 
like Nicodemus are inquiring for the 
door of the Kingdom of Grace — men 



(5) 



PREFACE. 

vrho are sick and tired of sin and ready 
to surrender to Jesus Christ. 

In homes all about us — the rich and 
the poor, the high and the humble, the 
strong and the weak, the well and the 
sick — are men who can easily be won to 
the Master. They are ready to re- 
nounce the World, the Flesh and the 
Devil. All that is needed to lead them 
out of darkness into the light of God's 
truth is a friendly, willing. Christian 
hand. 

Any man who can talk business can 
talk Jesus Christ also, if he knows as 
much about Jesus as he does about the 
business he represents; and any man 

(6) 



PREFACE. 

who can succeed in business of any kind 
can succeed also in winning men to Je- 
sus Christ if he will put as much thought 
and concentration and purpose in ef- 
forts to save men as he does in his busi- 
ness affairs. 

The first element of success in every- 
thing is adequate preparation with which 
to do the thing which is to be done. 

When once in possession of the Key 
to a Man*s Heart it is not difficult to 
open it for the entrance of the Holy 
Spirit. Some one, somewhere, some- 
time, holds the Key to every Man's 
Heart. 



(7) 



CHAPTER I. 


MAN IS MAN. 


Man is Man. We are Brothers. 


The Human Family is made up of one 


Great Brotherhood. Adam is our Fa- 


ther and Eve is our Mother. We may 


not like some of our Brothers and some 


of our Brothers may not Hke us, never- 


theless we are Brothers — each one form- 


ing a link in the great Chain of Human- 


ity, commonly known as the Human 


Family. 


Personal environments, whether good 


or bad, cannot affect existing relation- 


ships. Neither can position nor condi- 


(9) 



V/INNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



lion in life sever the ties of Brotherhood 
which bind us together as one Great 
Family. 

The King on his throne, holding the 
scepter of power in his hand, whose 
word is law throughout his kingdom and 
over all his subjects, is but a Man and is 
our Brother. 

The President of the United States 
in the White House at Washington, 
honored and respected by the greatest 
nation in the world, the ruler of a hun- 
dred million of happy, prosperous peo- 
ple, is also a Man and is our Brother. 

The Senators and Representatives in 
Congress at Washington, summoned to 



(10) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



their high positions because of their 
knowledge of present-day conditions 
and ability to enact laws in the interest 
of all the people, are Men and are our 
Brothers. 

Our Ministers at Foreign Courts, 
charged with the responsibility of guard- 
ing American interests in all lands, con- 
stantly communicating with the admin- 
istration at Washington, reporting the 
attitude of other nations towards ours, 
and asking for advice in handling intri- 
cate matters of vital interest to the na- 
tion, are Men and are our Brothers. 

The officers of the law and the mak- 
ers of the laws, chosen as representa- 



(11) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



tives from the people for specific pur- 
poses and obligated witli the responsi- 
bilities of performing their duties in the 
interests of their constituents, are Men 
and are our Brothers. 

The Merchants, handling the com- 
merce of the country, securing markets 
for products and products for markets, 
with one hand upon the producer and 
the other upon the consumer, are like- 
wise Men and are our Brothers. 

The Bankers, handling the financial 
interests of the country and taking care 
of the public and private earnings of the 
people, are Men and are our Brothers. 

The Schoolteachers, carrying the re- 



(12) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



sponsibility of training the intellect of 
the youth to the extent of adequate 
mental and physical equipment for the 
duties and responsibilities of the life be- 
fore them, are Men and are our Broth- 
ers also. 

The Ministers of the Gospel, the 
heralds of the cross co-operating with 
God in efforts to save the world from 
sin, are Men and are our Brothers. 

The Jurists, handling, interpreting 
and applying the laws upon the statute 
books and sentencing convicted crimi- 
nals, are Men and are our Brothers. 

The Doctors, watching over our 
physical welfare, standing between our 



(13) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST, 



homes and the graveyard, fighting back 
the "Pale Horse and his Rider/* are 
Men also and are our Brothers. 

The Oil Kings, fondling dieir millions 
of money, advancing and reducing the 
prices of oils at will, affecting, financial- 
ly, every family in the land, are Men 
and are our Brothers, too. 

The Railroad Magnates and Steam- 
ship companies, controlling the vast in- 
terests of transportation on land and sea, 
both passenger and freights of all kinds, 
are also Men and are our Brothers. 

The men on the railroad, representa- 
tives of an industry with which millions 
of people are connected and without 



(14) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



which the commercial sinews of our 
country would be paralyzed and multi- 
tudes of people would starve to death, 
are Men and are our Brothers. 

The men in the shop, many of whom 
are toiling through long hours and on 
small wages, small in proportion to the 
high price of the necessities of life, are 
Men and are our Brothers. 

The Miners in the ground, bringing 
from the bowels of the earth gold, sil- 
ver, precious stones and many other val- 
uable minerals, with which the people 
are enriched, are Men and are our 
Brothers. 

The men on the farm, upon whom 



(15 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



the whole Human Family depends for 
food and raiment, and the beasts of the 
field and the fowls of the air for food, 
like ourselves are Men and are our 
Brothers. 

The boys in school, toiling over their 
problems, broadening and cultivating 
and training their mental powers, pre- 
paring themselves to meet successfully 
the keen business competitions of the 
age in which they are to live and work, 
are our Brothers. 

The little baby boys in their mother's 
arms, whose eyes have not yet looked 
upon the things which produce the joys 
and sorrows of life; whose tender feet 



(16) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



have not yet touched the paths of safety 
or peril ; whose minds have not yet com- 
prehended the good and evil before 
them ; who do not know anything about 
the great world into which they have 
come nor the experiences awaiting them 
out on highways of business, social, do- 
mestic and religious life, are our Broth- 
ers. 

The men in the brewery and the men 
with white aprons who peddle their 
products — liquid fires which burn to de- 
struction both brain and brawn, body 
and soul, for time and eternity, and is 
a means of making more orphans and 
widows and producing more poverty and 



(17) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



crime and suffering and death, than any 
other agency of the devil in all the 
world, are Men and arc our Brothers 
nevertheless. 

Tlie men in the gutter, with broken 
spirits and heart-broken and suffering 
famihes, are our Brothers too. 

TTie men behind die prison walls, 
with guilty consciences and aching 
hearts, filled with remorse and in many 
instances wishing that they could die, 
are Men and are still our Brothers. 

The man in the mansion and the man 
in the hovel, the man at home and the 
man abroad, the man of toil and the 
tramp upon the highway, the man of 



(18) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



uprightness and the man with a criminal 
record; these and all other men every- 
where, no matter as to their physical, 
mental or religious conditions, are our 
Brothers. 

Every man of Whom Adam is 
Father is our Brother. Therefore, each 
of us being a part of one great Brother- 
hood, we are bound together by insepa- 
rable ties. The chain of heredity, or 
environment, or condition, or will power 
which pulls one brother up and another 
down, cannot by that act sever the tie 
of relationship which exists between 
them. 

Man is Man and we are Brothers. In 



(19) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



a broad sense, no man is above us and 
no man is below us. There is no big 
*'!" or little **U'* in this relationship. 
We are on a level. We need not cower 
or cringe in the presence of those who 
are in authority over us — they are our 
Brothers ; and none need be embarrassed 
in our presence, for we are their Broth- 
ers as they are our brothers. 

By keeping the fact of Brotherhood 
in mind as we deal with men in the in- 
terest of their souls, it will be found very 
helpful in approaching and winning 
them to Jesus Christ. 



(20) 



CHAPTER 11. 

SYMPATHY WITH MEN. 

Sympathy with men is an essential 
factor in winning them to Jesus Christ. 
A man*s conscience is susceptible to the 
finest touch of a sympathetic soul, a con- 
dition not always apparent, but one 
which is true, nevertheless. 

Casual observers and often Christian 
workers, seeing only the form of the 
man in his working garb, with his dust 
covered hands and face and his strong, 
masculine features, readily conclude if 
they think at all, that he is immune from 



(21) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 

the influences of sympathy. It seems 
to be taken for granted that a man*s 
heart is as cold and hard and irrespon- 
sive to the touch of loving sympathy 
from his fellowmen as are the palms of 
his hands. Such an idea, however, is a 
delusion and a snare and is w^holly with- 
out grounds of support. Covered with 
oil and grease from the machinery he 
handles and soiled with dirt and grime 
from the coal which he shovels, 
there is a heart — a Man's Heart — quick 
to recognize the touch of sympathy and 
kindness and is ready to respond in the 
same spirit. 

If we knew men better and loved 



(22) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



them more it would be easier to enter in- 
to sympathy with them and easier also 
to win diem to Jesus Christ. 

While going among men in shops and 
stores, in offices and on farms, in schools 
and factories, among rich and poor, 
among cultured and unlettered, among 
young and old, we are often surprised 
at die ready and hearty responses given 
to our direct questions concerning the 
welfare of their souls. It is often found 
that the question is anticipated before it 
is asked; and further, that unsaved men 
are disappointed When Christian people 
come among them or work by their 
sides and do not say something to them 

(23) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 

directly in the interest of their souFs 
salvation. 

The value of the Christian religion is 
judged by the world according to the 
importance attached to it by its profess- 
ors. 

We are living in a remarkable age 
of the world's history — remarkable in 
many ways and for many things — but 
in nothing more marked than the oppor- 
tunity which has been given the Church 
of Jesus Christ to save the world. 

The gates of every darkened nook 
and corner of the globe have been 
thrown wide open before the advancing 
armies of the soldiers of the cross. 



(24) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



The walls of opposition to the spread 
of the Gospel of Christ have crumbled 
and decayed before our eyes and are 
now in the dust. Difficulties hitherto 
preventing the heralds of the cross from 
going where most needed have been 
overcome and the Man of God is now 
at home and welcome in every part of 
the world where there is a soul hungry 
for die love and saving grace of the 
Lord Jesus Christ. 

The depths have been crossed and 
the mountains have been climbed and 
the white flag of King Immanuel has 
been unfurled before the eager eyes of 
die gazing world. 



(25) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



The Macedonian cry for help is ring- 
ing clear and strong from every part of 
every land where the Cross of Jesus has 
not yet been firmly planted. 

We see today what no other gener- 
ation ever savv^ — the whole human fam- 
ily gathered around calvary, with their 
faces turned towards tlie cross and their 
eyes fixed upon Jesus, and their ears 
listening to hear the story of redemption 
through the blood of the Crucified One, 
and their hearts hungering for that love 
which **satisfieth the longing soul.** 

What a picture for Heaven to look 
upon! What shouts of praise and joy 
would have gone to the throne on high 



(26) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



had the Prophets of old been permitttd 
to see the vision of opportunity now be- 
fore the Church of God! Our eyes 
behold the accumulated results of twen- 
ty centuries of Christian effort to bring 
this hungry world where it could catch 
a glimpse of the merciful face of Jesus 
Christ. Tliis is a blessed age in which 
to live. The harvest fields all over the 
world are white. Golden sheaves for 
the Master's garner are ripe and ready 
for the reaper's sickle. 

The Christian Man, big hearted, 

filled with love and sympathy for his 

fellowmen, Christ-like in spirit and in 

character, backed by a well-known. 



(27) 



mfm^'wMj «<u»-<*iw*«a 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



open, consistent Christian life, is wel- 
come in the presence of men to whom 
he goes as a friend and brother in tSe 
interest of their souls. 

The courteous treatment accorded 
Christian workers among all classes of 
men is marked and surprising to all ex- 
cept those who know what it is by com- 
ing in personal contact with them. Go 
to the busy man in the shop, in the fac- 
tory, in the mill, in the store, in the of- 
fice, in the schoolroom, on the farm, on 
the railroad, on the street, anywhere, 
everywhere ; go in the spirit of kindness 
and sympathy and meet them as broth- 
ers and ask them if they are Christians. 



(28) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



In nine cases out of ten, if tfiey are not, 
their answers will be something ap- 
proximating the following and given in 
a manly way: 

**]VIy friend, I regret to tell you that 
I am not a Christian and that I very sel- 
dom go to church. I believe in Chris- 
tianity. It is the only right course to 
pursue. It is die duty and privilege of 
every man to be at peace with his God 
but up to the present time I have neg- 
lected this important matter for which I 
am very sorry.*' 

This reply opens the way for a wise, 
discreet, sympathetic conversation, 
though there may be but time for a mo- 



(29) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



merit's talk, yet during that moment an 
impression may be made which will 
prove a means of leading that man to 
die Lord Jesus Christ. 

Spiritual virtue does not lie in the 
length but in the spirit of the conversa- 
tion. No doubt there are occasions 
where a single sympathetic word wins a 
soul to the Lord, when if more than one 
word should be spoken the opportunity 
of salvation would be closed at that 
time. 

There is more virtue in loving sym- 
pathy in helping a man into the King- 
dom of Jesus Christ than in anything 
else. Harsh words and means, scold- 



(30) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



ing, condemning, and telling lost men 
what diey deserve and where they 
should go, IS not the way to win them 
to the Master, but is a most effectual 
way of keeping them out of the King- 
dom of God. 

Personally we were not won to Jesus 
Christ by harsh words and methods, but 
by loving sympathy and kindness, and 
that which won us will win others also 
when rightly used. Men who have not 
shed a tear for years ; men on whom the 
preaching of tfie Gospel has no appa- 
rent effect; men who do not pray or 
read the Bible; men who are far from 
God and deep in sin; men who have a 



(31) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



sort of feeling that the world is against 
them, can often be touched by a word or 
act of sympathy, and the way opened to 
win them to Jesus Christ. 

An attempt to win men to the Savior 
without sympathy, and then an effort to 
speak lightly of or abuse diem for not 
accepting Him, is not worthy of any one 
Who ever heard the precious name of Je- 
sus Christ. The immediate and future 
effects of such a course are hazardous to 
souls. The duty of the reaper is to 
save, not to destroy, the harvest of gold- 
en grain. 

There is no substitute for a sympa- 
thetic heart as a means of winning men 



(32) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



to Jesus Christ. A commanding per- 
sonality, culture, refinement, posiLion, 
and earnestness are all good in their 
places and in serving the purposes for 
which they exist, but they are worthless 
as substitutes for sympathy in the matter 
of lifting lost souls to a plane where they 
may grasp the saving hand of the Risen 
Christ. 

Sympathy is the Door to a man's heart 
and Love is the key which unlocks that 
door. 



(33) 



CHAPTER III. 

RESPECT FOR MEN. 

Man IS man and deserves respect as 
such. Personally his condition may be 
humble, his character soiled, his spirit 
broken, his ambition for worthy attain- 
ments in life gone ; he may be worthless 
to the world, a menace to society, a dis- 
grace to his family, and a burden to him- 
self; he may forfeit all claims of recog- 
nition among decent people, but never- 
theless he is a Man. He has a heart. 
He has a soul. He was created in the 
image and likeness of God. Some- 

(35) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



wliere in weal or woe, he must spend 
eternity. 

Under the temptations and environ- 
ments which swept him away, his broth- 
ers might have fallen also; we cannot 
be sure that we would have withstood 
the storms which drove his bark upon the 
rocks. He is yet a man, and should 
have from his fellow men more sym- 
pathy than censure, and more respect 
than abuse. 

A man may have been untrue to him- 
self and all the world about him; he may 
have mistreated, abused and disgraced 
himself and all the world that he has 
touched; his record may be such as to 



(36) 



V/INNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



deserve rebuke, ostracism and condem- 
nation in the strongest terms possible for 
use, but yet he is a man. Others have 
fallen as low as he, and have risen by the 
grace of God and the assistance of some 
respectful, sympathetic hand, reached 
down to lift them up. "Where sin 
abounded, grace did much more 
abound." There is no night too dark 
for Heaven's Hght to penetrate* The 
arm of Jehovah is stronger than the pow- 
er of the devil. 

If all the sins of all the world we^e 
crowded upon an individual heart, the 
blood of the Lord Jesus Christ is suffi- 
cient to wash that sin away and to save 



(37) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



that soul. God's power to save is lim- 
ited only by a refusal of the sinner to 
meet the conditions of salvation as laid 
down in the Holy Book. 

No doubt many men, heart broken 
over their past lives and present condi- 
tion, feeling that no one cared for their 
souls, have gone down in despair w^ho 
might have been won to Jesus Christ by 
a single word of kindness spoken in love 
and sympathy and respect. 

Had the answer of the chief priests 

and elders to heart-broken and repentant 

Judas (Matt. 27:3-5) been respectful 

and kind instead of curt and sharp and 

selfish, who will take the responsibility 



(38) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



of affirming that even the "son of perdi- 
tion*' could not have been won back to 
die Lord whom he had betrayed? 

Is it not probable that some of the 
men who had taken part in driving the 
nails through the hands and feet of Jesus 
Christ were converted on the Day of 
Pentecost? 

Was the prayer of the dying Savior, 
"Lord, forgive them for they know not 
what they do,** meant for all or only a 
part of the number of men responsible 
for His crucifixion? Does the plan of 
redemption involve the necessary closing 
of the gate of Heaven against one soul 
as a means of effectually opening the 



(39) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



same gate to other souls? If the plan 
of salvation through Jesus Christ does 
not cover the entire human family, can it 
cover any part of it? Has our Lord 
and Master made it possible for some 
but not all souls to be saved? 

Certainly, salvation involves the meet- 
ing of all the conditions of pardon laid 
down in God's Word. There can be 
no pardon for any man who rejects 
God's requirements of salvation no mat- 
ter what the particular personal sin or 
sins on his heart may be. 

Man has no mission in this life but 
to help God save the world. God can- 
not save the world without the help of 



(40) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST, 



human agenc5%and man cannot save him- 
self without the help of God. If God 
could save the world alone, it would be 
useless for Him to wait for tlie co-opera- 
tion of man; if man could save himself 
alone, he would need no God. Both 
work harmoniously together in this mat- 
ter and the result is salvation from sin. 

Is our Christianity worth the claims 
that we lay upon it? Is it worth what 
it cost in sacrifices and offerings through 
out the Old Testament Dispensation? 
Is it worth what it cost in Gethsemane 
and on Calvary? Can it meet the re- 
quirements of the soul in this world and 
the world to come — tFirough life, in 



(41) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



death and at the judgment? Is God's 
grace sufficient at all times and under all 
circumstances?' If so, and there can be 
but one answer to these questions, it is 
worth our holiest motives, our best 
thoughts and our noblest endeavors. 

To be associated with God in saving 
souls and lifting the world from the mire 
of sin and ruin into which the devil has 
plunged it, is a work in which angels 
would be glad to join. There is noth- 
ing on earth or in Heaven too good for 
the children of God, therefore He per- 
mits them to have fellowship and co- 
operation widi Himself in saving the 
lost. 



(42) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



Without due respect for a man, no 
matter what his condition may be, it is 
utterly impossible to win him to Jesus. 
No important **!" and unimportant **U'* 
feeling ever helped to save a soul from 
death and hell, but has been a fruitful 
means no doubt of driving many into a 
state of utter spiritual indifference. 

We are and must continue to be, if 
we would be successful in winning lost 
men to Jesus CJirist, brothers of the men 
we seek to save. Certainly, we would 
not be otherwise intentionally, but be it 
remembered, that an unintentional mur- 
der is as deadly as the one intended and 
premeditated ; and a soul that is lost, no 



(43) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



matter as to the cause by which it was 
lost, is gone forever and ever. 

"Had they known it, they would not 
have crucified the Lord of Glory." 
When "they" came to a full realization 
of their own acts, the deed had been 
committed, Jesus Christ had been cruci- 
fied, and "they" were guilty of His mur- 
der. His blood was upon their hands 
and upon dieir hearts. Not knowing 
that He was the Lord of Glory at the 
time they did it, did not free His mur- 
derers from the sin of nailing Jesus 
Christ to the cross. 

Should the souls of men about us be 
neglected; or should attempts to win 



(44.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



them to die Lord without due respect for 
them fail ; or should opportunities to get 
diem saved pass widiout being improved, 
in the Great Day will not a part, at least, 
of dieir blood be upon the heads and 
hearts of diose who might have broken 
to their hungry hearts die Bread of Eter- 
nal Life? Are we willing to go up to 
die Judgment with such responsibilities 



upon US: 



God 



can use as small an in 



11 



fluence to save a soul as the devil can 
use to damn a soul. 

If we would win souls to Jesus Christ 
we must diink of men as being MEN 
We must look upon them as men. We 
must talk to them as men. We must 



(45.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



feel towards them as men. We must 
deal with them as men. We must con- 
duct ourselves among them as among 
men. They must feel diat a Christian, 
a gentleman, a friend, a brother, a 
MAN, is among them — one who has re- 
spect for and confidence in them; one 
who is ready and willing to meet them 
on the broad plane of brotherhood, each 
recognizing the other and feeling the 
common ties which bind them together 
as men — each with a life to live, a rec- 
ord to make, an everlasting influence to 
set in motion ; a death to die and a soul 
to be saved or lost forever. 

Such em impression made upon the 



(46.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



mind of an unsaved man opens the way 
for die one who made it to win him to 
Jesus Christ. Making such impress- 
ions is the fruit or result of having the 
mind and spirit of the Master. *'A good 
tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither 
can a corrupt tree bring forth good 
fruit.** 

The soul winner is one who himself 
has been won to the Savior and whose 
life is a convincing testimony to the 
world that Jesus Christ is able to save 
and keep from all sin. 

Men like manliness in men. Intui- 
tively they expect it, they look for it 
and their inner nature revolts when they 



(47.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



do not find it. Anything but manliness 
is disgusting and repulsive to men; they 
may not show their disappointment tn 
word or act but their hearts will feel it 
and the influence of it will be left upon 
lives which should have been lifted heav- 
enward by a holy influence and an un- 
seen but mighty power. The artifi- 
cial does not count here. The genuine 
is at a premium. Soul meets soul. Time 
and Eternity look each other in the face. 
Heaven and Hell witness the scene. 
TTie conflict is on. Souls are at stake. 
God or the devil will win. A soul will 
be saved or lost. 

In the Commercial World adequate 



(48.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 

preparation for doing a work is detei^- 
minedl by the value of the thing to be 
done. The same principles hold 
good in the Religious World. The 
best is not too good ; the purest is not too 
pure ; the holiest is not too holy, to put 
into efforts to save souls from eternal 
ruin. And when we have done our 
best, our all, the value of one soul is in- 
finitely more than the price of all the ef- 
forts combined put forth in all the world 
for the salvation of lost souls. 



(49.) 



CHAPTER IV. 

DEPORTMENT AMONG MEN. 

Here we face another important feat- 
ure of Soul Winning — Deportment 
Among Men. 

No doubt the nature of men has been 
greatly misunderstood by many who 
have sought to help them. 

Wise, chaste, discreet, gentlemanly 
conduct among men wins their respect 
and confidence, and is a foundation up- 
on which work may begin for their sal- 
vation. The thought that somediing low 
and coarse in word or manner is neces- 
sary in order to interest and hold the at- 



(51) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



tention of men, is an insult to Manhood 
and deserves the severest rebuke. It 
takes a gentleman to win a man to Jesus 
Christ. 

We must not meet the ungodly on the 
plane of indulgence in sin with them no 
matter whether they are sins of omission 
or sins of commission. The sinner 
quickly loses confidence in and respect 
for people who profess to live Christian 
lives and then secretly fail to live up to 
their profession. 

The world's conception of the Chris- 
tian life is high. No compromise can 
be made with sin. Even the appear- 
ance of sin must be carefully avoided. 



(52) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



Many a poor deluded woman, a 
member of some church, goes with her 
ungodly husband to the heaters and 
dances, hoping, as she says, thereby to 
get him to go with her to church some- 
time. Is it on record anywhere that 
such a course has ever been the means 
of winning a man's heart from sin to 
righteousness,? When ihe books cov- 
ering the lives of every member of the 
human family are opened at the Judg- 
ment, no such record will be found. 

Perhaps no single agency of the devil 
is more fruitful than improper, impru- 
dent and indiscreet deportment of church 
members among unsaved people. The 



(53.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



people of the world make no discrimina- 
tion between church members and Chris- 
tians, holding both to the same standard 
of consistent living. The "Epistles 
known and read of all men" and by 
which the religion of the Lord Jesus 
Christ is commended or condemned, are 
the professed followers of the Savior. 
They are on trial before the world. 
Every word they speak is heard by some 
ear. Everydiing diey do is seen by 
some eye. Every bit of influence they 
wield is felt by some life. They do not 
live alone any more than they die alone. 
The people who make up the Church 
are always under the scrutinizing eye of 



(54.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



the world. Their deportment among 
men is most carefully analyzed by dis- 
criminating minds, as a basis of deter- 
mination as to the kind of character and 
life the religion of Jesus Christ produces. 
If the verdict is favorable — and it will 
be in ninety-nine cases out of every hun- 
dred, if the evidence justifies it — ^then 
tihe people who produced the impression 
are in position to help the unsaved whose 
confidence they have won to the Lord. 
If, however, the verdict is unfavorable 
for just causes, those whose indiscreet 
deportment produced the unfavorable 
impressions have thereby blasted all their 
chances to win the lost to the Savior. 



(55.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



The writer once made a trip from 
Galveston, Texas, to New York City, 
on one of the Mallory Line ocean steam- 
ers, leaving Galveston, Saturday after- 
noon and landing at New York die next 
Saturday morning. 

Probably one hundred passengers 
were on board. For the most part they 
were a neatly dressed, well behaved, 
cultured class of people. They were 
strangers to me and I was a stranger to 
them. 

Sunday morning one of the pas- 
sengers, a handsome man, came to me 
and asked if I were a minister. When 
I told him yes, he further asked if I 



(56.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



would preach for the passengers at 1 1 
o'clock that day. I told him I would 
gladly do so provided it was desired and 
(the Captain of the Steamer had no ob- 
jections. He said he knew a goodly 
number of passengers and they were 
church members accustomed to attend- 
ing church services on Sunday and of 
course would be glad to have the priv- 
ilege of attending religious services that 
morning. 

My early morning caller went away 
and in a few minutes returned, accom- 
panied by another man, and said that 
the Captain had no objections to church 
services being held on deck. Accord- 



(57.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



ingly the service was planned and held, 
and also another one at 7:30 p. m,, that 
same day. Both were well attended. 
Hie personnel was about the same as is 
found in an average city church. The 
music was good. All seemed to take 
part. Many came to me after the 
meetings were over to express their ap- 
preciation of the services. 

The company was made up largely, 
so I was told, of Texas merchants who 
were going to Eastern markets to buy 
supplies of goods for the fall and win- 
ter trade. I heard but little profanity 
and saw but little drinking on the trip. 
Playing cards, however, seemed to be 



(58.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



the order of the day among all classes 
on board. 

Monday morning I was cordially in- 
vited by die same man who had request- 
ed me to preach the day before, to play 
a "social game of cards" with him and 
his wife and a little company of their 
personal friends. I declined. 

Monday afternoon I was invited by 
two other men who had heard me preach 
the day before to play a game with them 
and their friends. Of course I declined. 

Tuesday morning, Tuesday after- 
noon, Wednesday morning, Wednesday 
afternoon and Thursday morning these 
invitations were repeated, every time 



(59.) 



T *— III W MM m— J l 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 

coming from different men, sometimes 
from one and sometimes from three or 
four in company. Often with the in- 
vitation complimentary mention would 
be made of the sermons I had preached 
on the deck the Sunday before. 

I was assured from time to time by 
these men that if I did play **a social 
game** on the trip it would be with a 
select company of men and women, 
members of the church, and 'the best peo- 
ple in the towns and cities where they 
lived. I was told also that I was away 
from my home and family and pastoral 
charge, among strangers, good people, 
and diat if I did play a game with them, 

(60.) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 

the fact that I did it could never reach 
the outside world. 

The week passed. On Saturday 
morning as the sailors were about to drop 
anchor in the harbor at New York ev- 
erything on board was astir preparatory 
to landing. The passengers were greet- 
ing one another with farewells and ex- 
pressions of appreciation of the new 
friendships formed on the voyage. Many 
spoke to me kindly, among whom was 
one of the men who had insisted most 
strongly on me playing cards widi them 
on the trip. He said: 

"Well, Brother, we have reached 
our destination and in a few minutes will 



(61) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



separate never to meet again in this 
world ; and I want to tell you that your 
deportment on this trip has been such as 
to win and hold die respect and confi- 
dence of every passenger on board. 

**Our invitations were not pressed be- 
cause anyone thought you would accept 
them, nor because anyone in our com- 
pany wanted you to play cards with us ; 
but it was merely done as a joke, for 
pastime and because you were the only 
clergyman on board. Without inten- 
tional wrong on the part of the passen- 
gers we wanted to see whether you 
could be influenced to play a game of 
cards. It wcis a deliberate plan with us. 



(62) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



and I am glad to tell you as we 
separate this morning that when you 
were weighed in the balances of our tests 
on this trip you were not found wanting 
in your loyalty to the principles of Chris- 
tian deportment.'* 

With these remarks he ^hook my hand 
cordially and dnen in a most hearty man- 
ner said, **Good-by, Brother," and went 
away and was immediately lost in the 
crowd. 

Paul's words, **Abstain from all ap- 
pearance of evil," had a new illumina- 
tion before my vision as that man con- 
cluded his talk to me that morning. I 
had been on trial a whole week but did 



(63) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



not know it. I had been closely and 
carefully watched but in such a way and 
by such people that I did not even sus- 
pect it. I was tested again and again 
but had no knowledge of the fact until 
it was all over. 

No, the test was not mine — JESUS 
CHRIST was on trial and my deport- 
ment was His witness. 

We are on trial constantly in the pres- 
ence of friends as well as among ene- 
mies; we are on trial in our homes as 
well as out in the world among stran- 
gers; we are on trial through the week 
in our business relations with the people 
about us die same as we are in the 



(64) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



Church on Sunday; we are on trial in 
our social and political affiliations the 
same as we are in religious matters; we 
are on trial before the world from the 
time we begin the Christian life until 
death closes our eyes, hushes our voices 
and puts an end to our activities. 

No, we are not on trial — ^JESUS 
CHRIST is on trial and our personal 
deportment is witness for or against 
Him. Every bit of testimony is weighed 
carefully, and often an indiscretion is 
greatly magnified by people who are 
hunting for and even manufacturing ex- 
icuses to justify themselves in their own 
wrong doings. Let the people of God 



(65) 



WiMilBilfc' I ii IB-HT IW 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



take heed, govern themselves according- 
ly, and see to it that no man, woman or 
child, anywhere or anytime, shall have 
just cause for doubting their consistency 
as Christian Gentlemen of the Heavenly 
Type. 



(66) 



CHAPTER V. 

APPROACHING MEN. 

Nowhere in the Christian Hfe are the 
words of the Master, **Ee ye therefore 
wise as serpents and harmless as doves,'* 
more appropriate and more important 
than in the matter of approaching men 
with a view and hope of winning them 
for the Master. 

Men are approachable, impressiona- 
ble and winable. The very manner of 
approach may be and often is a direct 
means of either winning or losing in the 



(67) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



attempt to save them. First impressions 
if not always the most lasting are cer- 
tainly long lived. 

All men have not the same tempera- 
ment, the same environment, the same 
habits, the same temptations, the same 
associations; and therefore all men can- 
not be successfully approached in the 
same way, and yet there is a similarity 
among them which makes certain phases 
of approach appropriate to all, among 
which may be mentioned: 

1 . Definiteness of purpose. Go on 
a mission. Go with an object in view. 
Go to do something — something for a 
soul for time and eternity. Go as an 



(68) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



official representative of Eternal Life. 
Go in the name and the spirit of Him 
who said, '*I must be about my Father's 
business." Go with the burden and 
weight of a soul on the heart. Go to win 
a lost soul to Jesus Christ. Go with the 
feeling that the personal responsibility of 
winning that particular soul to the Mas- 
ter is yours and that the time to do it 
is NOW. 

2. Love. Go in the spirit of love 
— love for God, love for His cause, love 
for souls, love so deep and strong that, 
like a consuming fire, it will burn its way 
into the hearts and lives of people who 
are out of Christ. 



(69) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



3. JVillingness. Go willingly and 
gladly. Go for the joy of going. Go 
because it is a delight to be in the service 
of die King. Go because there is a 
chance to go. Go because something 
can be done for two worlds by going. 

4. Intelligence. Go to meet a 
MANjHo't an angel; go to meet a man, 
not a child; go to meet a man, not a 
boy; go to meet a man, with a message 
for a man, in the spirit of a man and in 
the strength of a man. 

5. Prater. Go with the heart lift- 
ed to God in earnest prayer for divine 
direction and help for every step, every 
'thought, every suggestion, and every 



(70) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



word. Go offering the fervent, effect- 
ual prayer, trusting in Him who hears 
and answers prayer for victory. 

6. Faith. Go on wings of faith; 
faith in God, faith in the Bible, faith in 
self, faith in the man to be won to Christ 
and faith in the means being used for his 
salvation. 

Men know men; men know how to 
deal with men; men know the tempta- 
tions of men ; men know how to sympa- 
thize with men; men know how to bear 
the burdens of men ; men know how to 
get the confidence of men ; men can help 
men to find the Lord. Winning men to 
God is a MAN'S job. 



(71) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



We are not unmindful of the great 
work done in the Church of God by 
consecrated women for the salvation of 
lost souls. In some communities the 
Church owes its very existence to the 
faithfulness of a few women. We 
would not lessen their efforts in the least 
degree to save the lost, but to the con- 
trary, we would gladly multiply their 
endeavors to do good by the largest 
number possible to use. 

The Church certainly owes a big debt 
of gratitude to the women for what they 
have done and are now doing and will 
continue to do in its interest. But it is 
not enough for women alone to work for 



(72) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



the salvation of lost souls. It is not 
enough for women and a comparatively 
few men alone to work in the interest of 
winning the lost to Jesus Christ. Life 
is too short, the opportunities of salvation 
too fleet, and death altogether too cer- 
tain and soon for only a part of the hu- 
man family to be aroused and awakened 
to the necessity and importance of im- 
mediate action with regard to personal 
salvation. 

The men must be stirred to action. 
They must come from their long night 
of sleep. They must see their broth- 
ers falling into perdition and hear their 
cries of despair from the mouth of the 



(73) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



pit. They must see and feel that God 
needs and must have MEN to save men. 

Were the old regime sufScient as 
God's co-operative agency to bring this 
world to the foot of the Cross, the happy 
songs of Zion would have been ringing 
from every home on every hilltop and 
in every valley throughout our broad 
land, centuries ago. Men must be har- 
nessed and equipped and commissioned 
for their part of personal work in saving 
the world from sin. 

Men are willing as a rule to give a 
part of their time, a part of their means, 
a part of their service and a part of 
their talents to the work of the Churcli, 



(74) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



I 



all good as far as it goes, but that is not 
enough. 

As men, we must give ourselves to 
God for use in His service according to 
His will. God doesn't need our money. 
He made and possesses all the gold in 
the universe. He needs men and must 
have men in order to save men. 

Realizing the importance of saving 
men, and man going after man in order 
to win him to Jesus Christ, the matter of 
appropriate approach will take care of 
itself in a large measure. Men under 
such conditions will not '*rush in where 
angels fear to tread," neither will they 
permit a trivial bit of timidity or fear or 

(75) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



anything else to stand between them and 
an earnest effort to save a soul from eter- 
nal death. 

There are times, it must be remember- 
ed, when one defeats the task he tries to 
accomplish by the methods he employs. 
On the other hand, there are those who 
through fear of making a mistake will 
not do anything. A mistake honestly 
made is better than no effort at all. God 
is able to transform honest mistakes into 
**blessings in disguise.** 

In approadhing men to win them to 
the Lord there should be a free and easy 
manner; nothing stiff, nothing formal, 
nothing "embarrassing — main meeting 



I 



(76) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



man. The conversation should be as 
free and easy as the approach — pleas- 
ant, but not light; brotherly but not un- 
duly familiar; kind but not patronizing; 
enough, but not too much; serious, but 
not melancholy; strong, but not stiff; 
simple, but not silly; personal, but not 
embarrassing. 

It is an easy matter for a man to open 
his heart to a man, especially if the two 
are friends and on confidential terms. 
They will confess their weaknesses each 
to the other and express their desires for 
better lives. Their hearts are opened to 
each other but closed to professional 
callers. When the confidence of a man 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST, 



has been won and his respect retained, it 
is not a difficult task to lead him to Jesus 
Christ the Lover and Friend of men. 

Not many men, if any at all, are con- 
verted to God without aid from their f el- 
lowmen. Bodi sin and salvation are 
contagious so far as die human element 
in them is concerned. Men are not 
saved in their stores or other places of 
business without help from some human 
source. Every conversion means that 
somewhere eyes are weeping and hearts 
are burdened and being poured out to 
God in earnest prayer and faith for the 
soul that is coming into the Kingdom of 
God's grace. The hand of some one 



(78) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



who knows the way must lead the man 
who knows it not if he ever finds the Sav- 
ior in the forgiveness of his sins. 

Ananias, of Damascus, laid his hands 
in prayer on Saul of Tarsus before the 
scales fell from ^e eyes of the future 
Great Apostle. P^ter helped Cornelius 
and his household into the kingdom of 
God. Paul and Silas led the jailer and 
his family to Jesus Christ. Phillip 
opened the door of grace to the eunuch. 
The Moravians out at sea were a means 
of leading John Wesley into an experi- 
ence of which he said, **My heart was 
strangely warmed." 

Our personal salvation depended up- 



(79) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST 



on the efforts of some one else in our be- 
half who helped us to the Lord and now 
the salvation of others depends upon our 
efforts to bring them to Jesus Christ. 
No man comes because no man can 
come to the Savior unaided by his fel- 
lowman. 

The lost sheep upon the cold, dark 
mountain side, surrounded by wolves, 
can never return to the Shepherd's fold 
unless aided by someone who knows the 
way. 



(80) 



CHAPTER VI. 

THE KEY TO A MAN's HEART. 

There is a key to every man's 
heart. There Is a means of influencing 
every man for good. There is a way 
to win every man to Jesus Christ. 

The Key, the means, the way should 
be carefully and prayerfully sought, 
definitely found and then/ effectually 
used. It is not wise to consider and an- 
alyze the depths of sin and degradation 
into which men have fallen, nor the num- 
ber of years they have spent away from 
God, nor the strength of the chains of 

(81) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



habit which bind them to ruin, but to the 
contrary, God's abihty to save to the ut- 
termost through His Son Jesus Christ 
should be magnified. 

There is no sin too black for the blood 
of Jesus Christ to wash away. There 
is no burden on any heart too heavy for 
the hand of Omnipotence to Hf t. There 
is no man too far in sin for die hand of 
Mercy to reach. There is no gutter of 
iniquity too deep for the power of God 
to reach its depths for the rescue of a 
soul. There is no ocean of prodigality 
too wide for the arm of our Heavenly 
Father to reach across to bring the wan- 
derer back again. 



(82) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



With the mind and heart full of such 
themes, added to a love for souls and a 
desire to see them saved akin to the love 
of God for the world, the command "go 
ye'* to win the lost often fades away into 
the entreaty "send me." Service be- 
comes a pleasure. God is near. His 
will is supreme and working with Him 
is a delight. 

In order to find the Key to 
win men for God there must be 
first a vision of the value of the soul. 
No man can be worth much as a Soul 
Winner who has not had such a vision. 
It is not enough to have the vision and 
let it pass; it must abide, or interest in 



(83) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 

the lost and efforts to win them to Jesus 
will wane. 

Who can estimate the value of a 
soul? Who can estimate the value of 
the body ? Who can estimate the value 
of a fraction of the body — an eye, a 
hand, a foot, a limb, an arm, an ear, a 
finger? The value of a member of the 
body, or of life itself may be determined 
as far as such value can be comprehend- 
ed, by what the one most interested 
would be willing to give for its restora- 
tion after it had been lost. 

What would a man be willing to give 
for the restoration of an eye, a hand, a 
foot, a finger or an ear that had been 

(84) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



lost? If that which is of *'the earth, 
earthy" and **which today is and tomor- 
row is cast into the oven" is of such in- 
calculable value, what must be the value 
of the soul, the image of God, in man? 
And again, if the value of the earthy, the 
perishable house of clay, be so great as 
to forbid even an attempt at estimate, 
what must be the value of the soul whose 
life is eternal? 

The value of the soul is infinite. All 
the wages earned by all die members of 
the human family from the beginning of 
time to the present day are not worth a 
mite in comparison to the value of a 
soul. All the money made by all the 



(85) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



merchants and traders of the world 
through all the history of time is not 
worth a farthing in comparison to the 
value of the soul. All the money han- 
dled by all the banks of all the world 
through all the ages is not worth a penny 
in comparison to the value of the soul. 
The aggregate wealth of the world 
through all generations is not enough to 
begin the first figure of comparison with 
the value of the soul. 

Moreover there have not been enough 
prayers and tears, sighs and groans, sor- 
rows and afflictions, pains and deaths 
from the days of Adam and Eve in die 
Garden of Eden to the present time to 



(86) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



atone for the sins of a single soul, or 
even a single sin in any soul. 

A soul in the grasp of sin is hanging 
over hell. The power of sin must be 
broken and the soul quickly snatched 
from the devil's hand or it must be lost 
forever. 

Seeing that there was no remedial 
agent in all the world with power to 
break the shackles of sin from the soul, 
**God so loved the world that He gave 
His only begotten Son that whosoever 
believeth in Him should not perish but 
have everlasting life. 

The value of the soul may be deter- 
mined by the cost of its redemption. 



(87) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



What it meant to God and all heaven 
to give up Jesus Christ and to look on 
Him in this world as the devil fought 
Him face to face ; as He hungered ; as 
He was ''despised and rejected of men'*; 
as He was reviled, falsely accused, con- 
demned and crucified, all by men whose 
souls He came to save, only the Infinite 
One can know. But this is the price 
that was necessary to be paid in order 
to bridge the chasm which was made by 
sin between God and man. Had there 
been any other way or method by which 
the redemption of man could have been 
accomplished, there would be no Geth- 
semane and no Calvary connected with 



(88) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



die salvation of the soul from sin and 
hell. 

This price, awful as it is, paid by 
Heaven for the redemption of the lost, 
does not secure the salvation of a single 
soul — it only insures the possibility of 
reconciliation with God. The blood of 
the Lord Jesus Christ is the only remedy 
in all the world for sin. In order to be 
effective the remedy must be applied to 
the diseased heart before its benefits can 
be obtained. 

A vision of the value that heaven 
places upon a soul and a vision of the 
price that God paid for its redemption ; 
a vision of the glories and riches of 



(89) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



heaven provided through Jesus Christ; 
a vision of the torments of hell from 
which die soul may be saved through 
the atoning blood of the Redeemer; a 
vision of the tragedy of a lost soul; a 
vision of the opportunity to co-operate 
with God in saving men, is necessary in 
order to become a successful soul win- 
ner. Such a vision will fire and enthuse 
one with heaven's zeal to win men for 
God. It will be **meat and drink" to 
spend and be spent in efforts to rescue 
the perishing by winning them to Jesus 
Christ. 

This vision of the value of the soul 
does not come through human agencies 



(90) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



no matter what nor how good they may 
be. Human agencies, it must not be 
forgotten, are necessary in the salvation 
of souls, but while that is true it is also 
true that there are heights and depths and 
breadths of soul vision that God only 
can give, and the vision of the value of 
the soul is one of the most important of 
them. 

This vision of the value of the soul 
is a part of God's love, wisdom and 
sympathy imparted to man by the Holy 
Spirit to enable him to realize something 
of the nature, value and importance of 
salvation. This vision is the equipment 
necessary in order to win men to Jesus 



(91) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



Christ, and without it, efforts to save the 
lost will prove powerless and fruitless. 
The command of our Lord to His 
disciples to go into all the world and 
preach die gospel to every creature as a 
means of saving the lost, was preceded 
by another command for them to tarry 
in die city of Jerusalem, until they 
should be divinely equipped with the vis- 
ion of die value of the soul, which they 
did, and as a result the whole world is 
reaping the benefits and blessings of dieir 
obedience to die two commands. Obe- 
dience to one would have been fruitless 
widiout obedience to the odier also. 
Had they gone out into the world with- 



(92) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



out the vision or equipment necessary to 
do the Master's Work, they would have 
returned empty handed and discouraged. 
Herein is the secret of v^inning men to 
Jesus Christ. 

Somebody, some^time, somewhere, 
holds the key to every man's heart. The 
psychological moment for him to be won 
to Jesus Christ arrives. He trembles in 
the balance of decision between heaven 
and hell. The armageddon is being 
fought. Heaven and hell meet. A 
battle for eternity is waged. Which 
end of the balance will go up? Which 
end will go down? Will there be joy 
in the presence of the angels over a sin- 



(93) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



ner won to the Savior, or a jubilee in 
hell over another victory secured for its 
dark domains? 

As stated at the close of Qiapter II, 
''Sympathy is the door to a man*s heart 
and love is the key which unlocks that 
door." Not all hearts, however, diat are 
unlocked by the key of love are won to 
Jesus Christ. It is not enough to unlock 
the heart's door. Many a man's heart 
has been opened to his friends when the 
question of personal salvation was not 
at all involved. 

Without the vision of the value of the 
soul, little or nothing will be done for 
the salvation of men, no matter as to the 



(94) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



number or favorableness of the opportu- 
nities to win them to the Master. 

Are there not many all over the land 
(may heaven pity us v^hile we say it 
and while we think about it) who claim 
to be working in the interest of the sal- 
vation of men who, instead of winning 
them to Jesus Christ, are playing with 
their souls as carelessly and thoughtlessly 
as children play with toys? 

Oh, for the vision of the value of the 
souls of men! 

The man who holds the key to the 
heart of one of his f ellowmen is the man 
in heaven's sight who controls the op- 
portunity of winning that soul to the 



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WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



Lord Jesus Christ ; and lie not only con- 
trols the opportunity of saving a lost soul 
but he Is responsible to the Almighty for 
the manner in which he uses that oppor- 
tunity and for the results which will fol- 
low — a soul saved, or a soul lost forever. 



(96) 



CHAPTER VIL 



RESULTS OF WINNING MEN TO JESUS 
CHRIST. 

The results of winning men to Jesus 
Ciirist are manifold and blessed. Like 
the rays of the sun, diey fly in all direc- 
tions with more than Hghtning's speed. 
They are not confined to this world but 
reach the worlds beyond. They do not 
end with time but run tlirough eternity. 
They do not stop with the man who has 
been saved but reach out and affect oth- 
ers as the tide of influence sweeps on 
and on. 

First, the result personally, should be 



(97) 



1 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST 



noted. A man has been won to Jesus 
Christ; his sins have been forgiven; his 
record of disobedience has been blotted 
out; God will remember his transgress- 
ions no more forever because they have 
been covered by the blood of His Son 
Jesus Christ; the burden of guilt has 
been lifted from a heavy heart; a con- 
science is at ease; peace has taken the 
place of dread and fear; light has driven 
away darkness; Hfe has taken the place 
of death ; a miracle has been wrought. 

Many things in life may be forgotten. 
The time and place and the accompany- 
ing circumstances of many important 
matters may slip away from the mind, 



(98) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



but the time and place and conditions 
under which a man is saved from sin are 
never forgotten. They are perennial. 
It is the beginning of eternal life. It 
is the most important event between the 
cradle and the grave. It is a date which 
will stand on the Calendar of Eternity 
marked by the blood of Jesus Christ for- 
ever. 

But this is not all. Domestic results 
will follow the winning of a man to 
Christ. The wife will have a Christian 
husband; tfie dhildren will have a Chris- 
tian father; the family will have a Chris- 
tian home ; the blessing will be asked at 
the table; the Bible will be loved and 



(99) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



read; songs of praise will ring from the 
hearthstone; prayers will go to the 
throne from the family altar; not only 
a man but a family also will be brought 
to the Lord. The home will be trans- 
formed and made into a type of heaven 
on which the angels will love to look and 
in which the Heavenly Guest will de- 
light to abide. 

Nor is this all. There is a new 
member for the Church, a new man for 
&e business world, a new man for social 
relations, a mew man for the political 
field, a new man everywhere, all the 
time and in everything he does ; a man 
who lives and breathes, walks and talks. 



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WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



q 



works and deals with his fellowmen on 
heavenly principles, expecting and get- 
ting a glorious reward for his loving 
fidelity to his Heavenly Father. The 
devil has lost and God has gained a man 
with his influence, his talents, his powers, 
his abiHty, his service, his money, his 
family his all for time and eternity. 

Even this is not all. When a man 
has been won to Jesus Christ, as a resuh 
of his salvation many others will be af- 
fected and influenced and brought into 
the Kingdom of God. If he has a wife 
and children and they are not saved, in 
all probability he \Al\ bring them to Je- 
sus Christ within a few days after his 

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WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 

own conversion. Such cases have been 
repeated until they have become nu- 
merous. They are no more rare. 

His fellow workmen whedier in 
stores or in offices, in factories or in 
shops, on farms or on railroads, will 
feel the influence and power of the man 
who has found Jesus Christ as his per- 
sonal Savior; and although for a time 
some of them may ridicule him and 
speak lightly of his profession, still deep 
in their hearts, they will feel glad for 
his sake and glad also for the sake of his 
family, and wish diat'they too had found 
peace with God and were new men in 
Christ Jesus tfic Lord. 



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WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



Little by little and sometimes as a 
*Vushing mighty wind" the influence of 
these new men of God takes hold upon 
the consciences of the people with whom 
they come in contact, and as a result 
they are alarmed over their sinful 
condition, begin to pray and inquire for 
the way of the cross of calvary, and are 
led to Jesus Christ. 

Old men and young men, women and 
children, hardened sinners and such as 
are just crossing the line of accounta- 
bility, one by one and sometimes in 
companies of two or more, are brought 
to the Savior, by men who have been 
won for the Lord, 



(103) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



There is no end to an influence set in 
motion for God. It is everlasting. The 
longer and further it goes the more pow- 
erful it becomes. It is like the Great 
Mississippi, small at its source but 
mighty where it empties into the Gulf; 
strengthened and deepened and widened 
along its hundreds of miles of length by 
streams from the north and from the 
south, from east and from the west, 
until it becomes the *Tather of Waters,'* 
upon which men of war may cruise and 
merchant vessels carry the commerce of 
the world from market to market. So 
it is with the influence of men of God. 
It deepens and widens and strengthens 



(104) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



as It goes, year by year, and on and on. 
Moses and Joshua are leading more 
people from sin unto righteousness today 
than diey led from Egypt into Canaan. 
The Prophet Nathan has a wider influ- 
ence for God in the world today than 
he had when he stood before the King 
of Israel and said, "Thou art the Man." 
Daniel has more influence among Gen- 
tiles today dian he had among Jews 
when he 'purposed in his heart that he 
would not defile himself with the King's 
meat" 

John the Baptist is preaching to more 
people today than he did when "Jerusa- 
lem, and all Judea, and all the regions 



(105) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



round abou^t Jordan *' went out into the 
wilderness to hear his gospel. 

The apostles of Jesus Christ have lar- 
ger audiences today, people who gather 
to hear their messages of the Crucified 
and Risen One, than they had on the 
day of Pentecost when three thousand 
souls were converted to God. Saint 
Paul's letters to the churches are read a 
thousand-fold more to the churches of 
our day than they were to the diurches 
of his own day. 

John Wesley has more influence in 
the world today than he had during his 
long, eventful, miraculous life. 

EKvight L. Moody, Charles H. Spur- 



(106) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



geon and David Livingstone are influen- 
cing more people for good today than 
they did While they were living. 

Multitudes of other saints of God 
lived well, wrought faithfully and left 
monuments of influence bdhind them 
which have grown with the passing years 
until they are seen and felt throughout 
the civilized world. 

There are Moses' and Joshuas, Na- 
thans and Daniels, Johns and Pauls, 
Wesleys and Moodys, Spurgeons and 
Livingstones in the Church of God today 
the same as in other ages of the world's 
history — ^men who are as true to God 
and as ready to answer His call to duty 



(107) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



as were any of their worthy predeces- 
sors. 

God has a people today on whom He 
can depend for anydiing, anytime, any- 
way and anywhere. Men who rallher 
win souls to Jesus Qirist than to eat 
when they are hungry or sleep When 
they are tired. Men who rather be 
about their Father's business than to gain 
the whole world if such a thing were 
possible. 

A man's shoulder is broad and strong. 
It was made to bear the material bur- 
dens of the world. He builds the cities 
and levels the mountains; he builds the 
railroads and cuts the canals; he builds 



(108) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



llie s^hips and digs the coal; he carries 
the heavy burdens of the world and does 
it gladly because it is his work and his 
mission. The world depends upon him 
and waits for him and is not disappoint- 
ed in him. Without his shoulder, his 
hand and his brain the material interests 
of the world would be paralyzed beyond 
redemption. 

But man's mission is not to material 
things only. He owes a support, a com- 
fortable home and educational advan- 
tages to his family, but that is not the 
most, it is only the least of that which 
he owes them. 

He owes them a Christian example, a 



(109) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



Christian leader, a Christian defender, a 
Christian home. His work is not done 
but only begun when material things 
have been adequately provided. 

The day has come — the very hour is 
here now when the manhood of the 
country should rise as if by a single im- 
pulse to do their duty by spiritual as 
well as diey are doing it by material 
things. They can do it. TTiey ought 
to do it. They owe it to God. They 
owe it to the country. They owe it to 
the church. They owe it to their fami- 
lies. They owe it to themselves. 

With the manhood of the country 
properly awakened, aroused and equip- 



(110) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



I 



ped for winning men to Jesus Christ, 
Hheir all on God's altar for His service, 
it will not take long to carry the story of 
Jesus and His love. His power and 
willingness to save to every creature in 
every part of the eardi. 



I 



I 



WeVe working together, my Jesus and 

I; 

He tells me His will and I gladly com- 
ply; 

I understand Him and He understands 
me , 

And working is resting While Jesus I see. 

We're working together, my Jesus and 

I; 

In order to help me He comes from on 
high; 



(111) 



WINNING MEN TO CHRIST. 



The mountains He makes into valleys 

replete, 
The hills and roug'h places He smoothes 

for my feet. 

Wliile working with Jesus the labor is 

light, 
There's strength for the day and there' re 

songs in the night ; 
And when I get hungry He gives me 

that meat 
Hie world does not know, but to me it 

is sweet 

We're working together, my Jesus and 

I; 

Yes working together, my Jesus and I. 
He shows me the way and I find it so 

true; 
He carries my burden and carries me 

too. 



(112) 



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